This radio program discussed the pros and cons of the kind of compulsory school attendance laws now in force in all states except Mississippi. The program moderator talked in turn with five individuals about their views on compulsory education. B. Frank Brown, chairman of the National Commission for the Reform of Secondary Schools, recommended that school attendance should not be compulsory beyond the eighth grade or age 14. Owen Kiernan, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, supported the present laws, which generally require school attendance through age 16. Mary Wilson, a 20-year-old ex-dropout now working as a professional pianist and apprentice carpenter, favored elimination of compulsory attendance laws but predicted that such a change would have little real impact. LuVern Cunningham, codirector of the Detroit Education Task Force, suggested that every person should be entitled to a certain number of years of free public education to be used whenever he chooses. Joseph Featherstone, a Harvard University professor, argued that eliminating compulsory attendance laws without first creating alternative approaches or institutions to serve the needs of young people would not create any more freedom of choice than exists now. (JG)